Security for debts owed by a Greek company or individual.

Mortgage on real estate

A mortgage (υποθήκη) is a right over another person's real estate that secures a claim and gives the creditor preferential satisfaction from the property (Civil Code art. 1257). It can also secure a future or conditional claim (art. 1258).

A mortgage needs a title and registration (art. 1260). The title may come from the law, from a court decision or from the owner's own will (art. 1261). Where the owner grants it, whether the owner is the debtor or a third party, this is done by a unilateral notarial declaration that identifies the property (arts 1265, 1266). The mortgage exists only from its registration in the public books for the property (art. 1268), and it is always registered for a fixed amount of money (art. 1269). If the property does not belong to the grantor at the time of registration, the registration is void (art. 1271).

Priority follows the day of registration. Mortgages registered on the same day rank equally and share pro rata (arts 1272, 1300, 1301). The owner remains free to grant further mortgages to others (art. 1290), so what matters is which registrations are already ahead. If the secured capital was registered as interest-bearing, the mortgage also covers, at the same rank, one year of interest arrears before the seizure and the interest that runs after it (art. 1289).

On default, the creditor may seek payment through the forced sale of the property once the debt is due (art. 1292), including where the property has passed to a third party (art. 1294). A third-party owner who is not personally liable answers only up to the value of the property (art. 1296). Enforcement requires an enforceable title for the claim, such as a final judgment, a payment order or a notarial deed (Code of Civil Procedure art. 904).

The main limits: the mortgage is accessory, so it ends when the claim ends, including by prescription (arts 1317, 1320); earlier registrations are paid first; and in the distribution of auction proceeds a secured creditor shares with certain privileged claims, as explained below.

Pre-notation of mortgage

A pre-notation (προσημείωση υποθήκης) reserves a rank for a mortgage that does not yet exist. The title for registering it is a court decision, a payment order, a mediation settlement record or another act that the law recognises for this purpose (Civil Code art. 1274, as replaced by Law 5095/2024). A court may order it as an interim measure and must state the amount it secures (Code of Civil Procedure art. 706). The insolvency code refers to pre-notations granted both by consent and after a contested hearing (Law 4738/2020 art. 100).

It is registered in the same way as a mortgage, marked as a pre-notation (art. 1276). It gives only a right of priority. When the claim has been awarded by a final judgment, the pre-notation is converted into a mortgage that counts as registered from the day of the pre-notation (art. 1277), even if the property has since passed to another owner (art. 1278).

The limits follow from this. The conversion must take place within ninety days of the final judgment awarding the claim; otherwise the pre-notation lapses (arts 1323, 1330). If the property is auctioned before conversion, the claim is ranked only conditionally (art. 1279; Code of Civil Procedure art. 1007).

Pledge of movables

A pledge (ενέχυρο) over a movable secures a claim with preferential satisfaction from the thing (Civil Code art. 1209). The Civil Code pledge is possessory: the owner must hand the thing over to the creditor, or to a third party both agree on, and the agreement must be made by notarial deed or by private document with a certain date, identifying the claim and describing the thing (arts 1211, 1212). An arrangement under which the pledgor keeps the thing does not count as delivery (art. 1213).

A business rarely wants to hand over its machinery or stock. Since 30 June 2025, a pledge without delivery is governed by Law 5123/2024. It is created by a private or electronic document between the owner and the creditor and is entered in the Electronic Pledge Registry, which is run by the Hellenic Cadastre as a digital service through gov.gr (arts 13, 15). It can secure an existing, future or conditional claim, and it can cover several things or a pool of things or rights whose composition changes (a floating security). Against third parties the pledge takes effect from its registration (art. 13).

Law 2844/2000, which governed registered pledges until then, is still on the statute book only in part. Law 5123/2024 repealed its articles 1, 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 13(1)-(2), 14 and 15 (art. 26). Pledges created under the repealed provisions before the new law took effect continue to be governed by them (art. 25), and any reference to publication under article 3 of Law 2844/2000 now means publication in the new Registry (art. 23). Articles 2, 6 to 9, 12, 13(3) and 16 to 21 were not repealed and remain.

On default, the holder of a Civil Code pledge may sell the thing by public auction once the claim is due, if it holds an enforceable title, or may obtain a court decision ordering the sale (art. 1237). An agreement made before the debt falls due that the creditor will simply keep the thing on default, or that the creditor is released from the sale formalities, is void (art. 1239). For a registered pledge between businesses, the contract may provide for the enforcement route named in art. 13(2) of Law 5123/2024.

The main limits: a pledge is only as good as the pledgor's title, since over a thing that does not belong to the pledgor it arises only under the conditions for acquiring a movable in good faith from a non-owner (Civil Code art. 1215); and in the distribution of proceeds a pledge ranks after the cost of preserving the thing (Code of Civil Procedure art. 976).

Pledge of claims and bank accounts

A debtor's own receivables, for example what its customers owe it, can be pledged. Under Law 5123/2024 the agreement must identify the pledged claim, in particular its amount and its debtor, and the claim being secured. It is made by private document with a certain date or by electronic document and is entered in the Pledge Registry (art. 5). Registration is not required where the pledged asset is a bank deposit and the creditor is the bank that holds it.

The pledge is notified to the debtor of the pledged claim through a court bailiff or by electronic means that constitute a durable medium (art. 6). The dates matter: the pledge binds the pledgor from its creation; it binds the debtor of the pledged claim from the notice, after which that debtor may no longer pay the pledgor; and it is effective against everyone else from registration (art. 7).

On default, the secured creditor may collect the pledged claim itself, without any court procedure, once ten working days have passed from the day its own claim fell due, up to the amount needed to satisfy it (art. 9). If a third party attaches the pledged claim, the debtor of that claim must disclose the pledge in its statement (art. 9).

A pledge of claims is only as good as the claims: it depends on the solvency of the debtor's customers and on the claims actually existing.

Pledge of shares and company interests

Shares in an ΑΕ and company parts in an ΙΚΕ can be pledged (Law 4548/2018 art. 54; Law 4072/2012 art. 75). The formalities are now in Law 5123/2024.

A pledge of registered shares is created by private or electronic document and by entry in the Pledge Registry; it is then recorded in the company's share register and noted on the share certificates, if paper certificates exist. For listed or dematerialised shares the existing special rules continue to apply (art. 11). The pledge attaches to the shareholder's right itself, so a replacement of the certificates or a change in the share capital does not end it, and new shares issued are delivered to the pledgee.

Unless agreed otherwise, the pledge extends to dividends, and the voting right stays with the pledgor; the articles of association may prohibit an agreement to the contrary (Law 5123/2024 art. 11; Law 4548/2018 art. 54). The creditor may enforce whether or not it holds the certificates.

A pledge of ΙΚΕ parts is created by private or electronic document. The company is notified in writing, signed by both parties, which may be done by email, and the administrator must enter the pledge in the partners' register without delay and register it in the Pledge Registry (art. 12). Similar rules apply to parts in an ΕΠΕ and to transferable interests in partnerships.

The limits are commercial as much as legal. The value of the security follows the fortunes of the company, and a sale on enforcement depends on finding a buyer for a private company's shares. Shares in an ΑΕ are in principle freely transferable, subject to restrictions the law allows the articles to impose (Law 4548/2018 art. 41), so the articles should be read before the pledge is taken.

Assignment of receivables as security

A creditor can also take the debtor's receivables by assignment (εκχώρηση). A claim can be assigned by contract without the consent of the person who owes it (Civil Code art. 455). The assignee acquires no right against that person or against third parties until the assignment has been notified to them by the assignee or the assignor (art. 460). Until then, a payment made to the assignor releases the payer (art. 461).

The person who owes the assigned claim keeps every defence it had against the assignor before the notice, including, within limits, set-off (art. 463). A clause prohibiting assignment prevents it, but cannot be raised against an assignee who relied on a document that did not contain the clause (art. 466). Mortgages, pledges and guarantees that secure the assigned claim pass with it (art. 458).

Law 5123/2024 ties security assignments to the new regime: the parties to a pledge of a claim may agree that the pledge operates as an assignment of the claim to the creditor from the outset, to be undone when the secured debt is repaid (art. 10). Such agreements are among the acts that must be entered in the Pledge Registry (art. 17).

In the debtor's bankruptcy, the creditor's right to collect claims that were lawfully pledged or assigned before the declaration is preserved (Law 4738/2020 art. 101).

Personal guarantee

By a guarantee (εγγύηση) the guarantor accepts liability towards the creditor that the debt will be paid (Civil Code art. 847). It can be given for a future or conditional debt (art. 848). It is void unless declared in writing; performance by the guarantor cures the lack of writing (art. 849). It presupposes a valid principal debt (art. 850).

The guarantor is liable for the principal debt as it stands at any time, including the consequences of the debtor's fault or default (art. 851), and may raise the principal debtor's defences that are not purely personal (art. 853). Several guarantors are jointly and severally liable (art. 854).

Unless it is waived, the guarantor has the benefit of discussion (ένσταση διζήσεως): it may refuse to pay until the creditor has attempted enforcement against the principal debtor and that enforcement has failed (art. 855). The defence is lost if the guarantor waived it, in particular by guaranteeing as co-principal debtor (αυτοφειλέτης); if the debtor has been declared bankrupt and the creditor holds no pledge; or if enforcement against the debtor would plainly be fruitless (art. 857). A guarantee meant to give quick recourse should therefore contain an express waiver.

The Civil Code also releases the guarantor in certain cases, and the drafting and the creditor's conduct should take them into account: where satisfaction from the debtor became impossible through the creditor's fault (art. 862); where the creditor gave up other security held for the same claim, to the guarantor's detriment (art. 863); and where the creditor does not pursue the claim in court within one month in the situations of arts 866 to 868.

A guarantee gives no priority over any asset. It is worth what the guarantor's own assets are worth, net of the guarantor's other creditors. Where the guarantor owns real estate, a guarantee can be combined with a mortgage or pre-notation on it.

First-demand bank guarantees

The Supreme Court (Άρειος Πάγος) treats a first-demand bank guarantee letter as a particular kind of guarantee created by commercial practice under the freedom of contract (Civil Code art. 361) and governed by the guarantee rules of arts 847 ff. to the extent that they fit (decision 270/2023).

According to that decision, a first-demand clause means that the bank pays the amount of the letter without examining whether a valid debt exists or why the guarantee is called, and without the benefit of discussion. The bank cannot refuse by relying on defects in the underlying contract or in its own relationship with its customer. The letter is not, however, an abstract promise of payment: the bank need not pay for a cause the letter does not cover, and it may resist a demand that is abusive (Civil Code art. 281).

For the creditor the strength of this instrument is the solvency of the bank and the speed of payment. Its limits are in the text of the letter: the amount, the expiry date, the event covered and the way the demand must be made.

Retention of title

A seller of goods on credit can agree that ownership stays with the seller until the price is paid in full (παρακράτηση κυριότητας). Under Civil Code art. 532, in case of doubt such a clause means that ownership passes when the price is fully paid and that, if the buyer defaults, the seller may either claim the price or withdraw from the contract and exercise its rights as owner. The buyer bears the risk from delivery.

The article does not prescribe a form. In practice the clause should be agreed in writing in the sale contract, with a date that can be proved, because the seller will have to prove it against third parties and against an insolvency administrator.

If the buyer is declared bankrupt after receiving the goods, the bankruptcy does not affect the seller's rights under the clause. The seller may set the administrator a time limit to choose whether to perform the contract; if the administrator refuses, the seller may take the goods out of the insolvency estate without first withdrawing from the contract (Law 4738/2020 art. 110).

The limits are practical. A third party who acquires the goods from the buyer in good faith becomes owner (Civil Code arts 1036, 1037). Goods built into a building become part of the real estate, and goods combined into a single new thing fall under co-ownership or pass to the owner of the principal thing (arts 953, 954, 1057, 1058). Retention of title therefore suits identifiable goods that stay as they are, and is weaker for materials that are resold or processed.

Financial collateral

Financial collateral over cash and financial instruments has its own regime under Law 3301/2004. Law 5123/2024 left that regime in place (art. 23), and the insolvency code refers to it for the validity and enforcement of such arrangements (Law 4738/2020 arts 101, 121).

How secured creditors rank in an enforcement sale

Security over an asset does not mean that the creditor takes the whole of the auction proceeds. After the costs of enforcement, the Code of Civil Procedure divides the proceeds among three groups: claims with a general privilege, which include certain employee claims, the State's claims for VAT and withheld taxes and the claims of social security funds (art. 975); claims with a special privilege over the asset, which include the pledge for movables and the mortgage for real estate, as well as the costs of preserving the thing (arts 976, 1007); and unsecured claims.

Where all three groups are present, secured claims are satisfied up to 65% of the proceeds, generally privileged claims up to 25% and unsecured claims up to 10%. Where there are only secured and unsecured claims, the split is 90% to 10%. Where there are only secured and generally privileged claims, the secured claims take up to two thirds and the others up to one third (art. 977).

A more favourable order applies to claims that arose entirely after article 977Α took effect in January 2018 and are secured over an asset that carried no encumbrance at that date: the secured claim is then ranked ahead of the general privileges, subject to a limited super-privilege for unpaid wages (arts 977Α, 1007). Which rule applies depends on the dates of the claim and of the security, and should be checked for each asset.

If the debtor becomes insolvent

Bankruptcy is governed by Law 4738/2020. A secured creditor (ενέγγυος πιστωτής) is one whose claim is secured by a special privilege or a right in rem over a specific asset of the estate (art. 96). Secured creditors are satisfied from the liquidation of that asset, and share in the rest of the estate only if the security is not enough (art. 101).

From the declaration of bankruptcy, individual enforcement by creditors is stayed automatically, and new interim measures, including the registration of a pre-notation of mortgage, are barred (art. 100). The stay does not apply to secured creditors, as regards the secured asset, for nine months from the declaration; after that it covers them too. They are stayed from the start where the court's decision provides for the sale of the business, or of operating parts of it, as a whole and the secured asset is part of what is being sold (art. 101).

Proceeds are distributed by applying articles 975 to 978 of the Code of Civil Procedure by analogy, with one addition: financing and supplies provided under, or during the negotiation of, a rehabilitation agreement rank first among the general privileges (art. 167). Where the business is sold as a whole, a creditor with security over a particular asset is ranked on the part of the price that corresponds to that asset.

Security taken late is at risk. Acts of the debtor between the cessation of payments and the declaration of bankruptcy (the suspect period) can be revoked. Security in rem, including a pre-notation, or contractual security granted for pre-existing debts which the debtor had not earlier undertaken to secure is revoked if it was granted in the suspect period or in the six months before it (arts 116, 117). Security agreed when the credit is given is in a different position from security obtained once the debtor is already in difficulty.

A guarantor of a bankrupt debtor can be pursued directly: the benefit of discussion falls away once the debtor is declared bankrupt and the creditor holds no pledge (Civil Code art. 857). A seller with retention of title and a person whose property is in the debtor's hands may ask for it to be separated from the estate (arts 110, 112).

What L+A does

We advise creditors before credit is given and when a debt is not paid. The work is led by senior lawyers of the firm, who deal with the client directly, in English or Greek.

• Review of the debtor and of the asset offered: ΓΕΜΗ, land registry and Cadastre, Pledge Registry and insolvency searches.
• Drafting of pledge agreements, assignments, guarantees, retention of title clauses and the security terms of supply and loan contracts.
• Mortgages and pre-notations: working with the notary, the court application where one is needed, and registration.
• Registration and notices: Pledge Registry entries, notices to the debtors of pledged or assigned claims, entries in share and partners' registers.
• Enforcement: payment orders, pre-notations, seizure and auction, calling guarantees, and filing and defending the creditor's claim in insolvency proceedings.

Scope of this page

This page covers security under Greek law for commercial debts. It does not cover ship mortgages, aircraft, consumer credit or tax. It is general information, not legal advice; which security is suitable and how it ranks depends on the documents and the registers in each case. Reviewed on 11 November 2026.

Sources

Statutes and decisions for the facts on this page:

• Civil Code (π.δ. 456/1984, Gazette Α' 164), arts 361, 455-466 (assignment), 532 (retention of title), 847-868 (guarantee), 953, 954, 1036, 1037, 1057, 1058, 1209-1256 (pledge), 1257-1333 (mortgage and pre-notation), as in force (art. 1274 as amended by Law 5095/2024)
• Civil Code art. 1274 as replaced by Law 5095/2024 (Gazette Α' 40/15.3.2024): https://ia37rg02wpsa01.blob.core.windows.net/fek/01/2024/20240100040.pdf
• Code of Civil Procedure (π.δ. 503/1985, Gazette Α' 182/24.10.1985), arts 623, 624, 706, 904, 975-978, 1007, as amended
• Code of Civil Procedure art. 975 as replaced by Law 5303/2026 (Α' 81/2026); art. 904 as amended by Laws 5221/2025 (Α' 133/2025) and 5344/2026 (Α' 168/2026): https://ia37rg02wpsa01.blob.core.windows.net/fek/01/2026/20260100081.pdf , https://ia37rg02wpsa01.blob.core.windows.net/fek/01/2025/20250100133.pdf , https://ia37rg02wpsa01.blob.core.windows.net/fek/01/2026/20260100168.pdf
• Code of Civil Procedure art. 977Α, added by Law 4512/2018 art. 176 (Gazette Α' 5/17.1.2018): https://ia37rg02wpsa01.blob.core.windows.net/fek/01/2018/20180100005.pdf
• Code of Civil Procedure arts 977 and 977Α as amended by Law 4842/2021 arts 71, 72 (Gazette Α' 190/13.10.2021): https://ia37rg02wpsa01.blob.core.windows.net/fek/01/2021/20210100190.pdf
• Law 5123/2024 (Gazette Α' 109/19.7.2024), pledge and Electronic Pledge Registry, arts 5-15, 17, 21, 23, 25, 26, 31: https://ia37rg02wpsa01.blob.core.windows.net/fek/01/2024/20240100109.pdf
• Joint ministerial decision 41802 ΕΞ 2024 (Gazette Β' 7024/20.12.2024), entry into force of Part Β of Law 5123/2024 moved to 30.6.2025: https://ia37rg02wpsa01.blob.core.windows.net/fek/02/2024/20240207024.pdf
• Hellenic Cadastre board decision 362/13 (Gazette Β' 3333/30.6.2025), Electronic Pledge Registry in operation from 30.6.2025: https://ia37rg02wpsa01.blob.core.windows.net/fek/02/2025/20250203333.pdf
• Law 2844/2000 (Gazette Α' 220/12.10.2000), registered pledges, as published: https://ia37rg02wpsa01.blob.core.windows.net/fek/01/2000/20000100220.pdf
• Law 3301/2004 (Gazette Α' 263/23.12.2004), financial collateral arrangements: https://ia37rg02wpsa01.blob.core.windows.net/fek/01/2004/20040100263.pdf
• Law 4738/2020 (Gazette Α' 207/27.10.2020), insolvency, arts 84, 96, 100, 101, 110, 112, 116, 117, 121, 167, as amended (art. 101 by Law 5072/2023, art. 167 by Law 4818/2021): https://ia37rg02wpsa01.blob.core.windows.net/fek/01/2020/20200100207.pdf
• Law 4548/2018 (Gazette Α' 104/13.6.2018), arts 40, 41, 54 (shares, transfer, pledge): https://ia37rg02wpsa01.blob.core.windows.net/fek/01/2018/20180100104.pdf
• Law 4072/2012 (Gazette Α' 86/11.4.2012), art. 75 (ΙΚΕ company parts): https://ia37rg02wpsa01.blob.core.windows.net/fek/01/2012/20120100086.pdf
• Law 4919/2022 (Gazette Α' 71/7.4.2022), arts 17, 19 (ΓΕΜΗ publicity): https://ia37rg02wpsa01.blob.core.windows.net/fek/01/2022/20220100071.pdf
• Άρειος Πάγος 270/2023 (Civil Chamber Α1), first-demand bank guarantee letters: https://www.areiospagos.gr/nomologia/apofaseis_DISPLAY.asp?cd=HUG2J3Q77XTLJNRPPZGOTYWDS2RNOK&apof=270%5F2023&info=%D0%CF%CB%C9%D4%C9%CA%C5%D3+%2D++%C11